1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the provision of services over a wide-area network and, more particularly, to a system and a method of providing audio and/or video data to a subscriber using a wide-area network such as the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to receive the newest and latest entertainment or informational products such as books, music compact disks (CD's), or movie tapes on a regular basis, consumers are often required to join various clubs such as a book club, a CD club, and/or a movie club. These clubs send periodically, typically on a monthly basis, a preselected number of books, CDs, or movies to their members. Delivery of these products by mail or similar services is usually relatively slow so the members do not necessarily receive the most current products. Also, when customers choose not to buy these products, the overall costs of providing the service increase, which inevitably raise the price of these products.
With the advent of the Internet, there is now available on the World Wide Web a multitude of entertainment/informational resources readily accessible by the consumers. To retrieve such products, the consumers employ browsers installed on their desktop computers to search and identify the appropriate Web sites containing the desired products.
Now, users of mobile equipment such as wireless phones and palm-sized personal computers also demand, as do users of desktop computers, these same products. However, searching and browsing such information using mobile equipment may not be practical, as such mobile equipment has limited processing capability, memory, and battery power. In addition, such mobile equipment has small displays for viewing and manipulating information.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,941 discloses a portable digital device for storing audio information on a hard drive, in a flash EPROM, or other solid state non-volatile memory. The device may be connected to an ISDN telephone, a digital satellite broadcast device, a two-way interactive cable device, or an Internet Service Provider. However, there is no disclosure of a system for distributing information to subscribers automatically and periodically or a system for distributing text and audio-video data customized for a particular user on a subscription basis over a wireless communication network.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for providing consumers entertainment and informational products, tailored to their preferences and interests, on a regular basis through a wide-area network and a wireless communication network.